East Rutherford, NJ – Despite drawing post 10, Aardie B Miki N flaunted her back class in the Friday (Jan. 2) night feature at The Meadowlands, crushing her foes as the 1-5 favorite in the $17,500 high-end conditioned pace for fillies and mares.
Brett Beckwith, the leading driver at The Big M during 2025, had the 6-year-old daughter of Always B Miki-Tatijana Bromac on the go from the extreme outside post, firing from the gate along with Miss Idaho A and Take Your Pick into the first turn.
Take Your Pick had the lead while parked at the quarter in :27.4, but ‘Miki’ surged past that foe just after the three-eighths, and had the front at the half in :56.
“If I get away 10th, I don’t care if you’re 1-9 with the greatest horse in the world. It’s going to be pretty hard to win, especially off a half in :56 with those kind of mares,” said Beckwith. “So, you definitely have to be forwardly placed.”
Everything was going swimmingly for Aardie B Miki N heading to the far turn when Intothemysticmoon came alongside to harass the leader as three-quarters was reached in 1:24.1, but as the field straightened up at the top of the lane, Aardie B Miki N shrugged off the challenge and maintained a safe edge on that foe all the way to the wire. The winning margin was a length in a mile that was completed in 1:52. Fearless Bettor was third.
“She looked like she fit pretty well in there dropping out of bigger events into an overnight race,” said Beckwith of Aardie B Miki N, who strung together five straight wins in early 2025 in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series at Yonkers, including the $490,000 final. “I really didn’t have much to worry about as long as I could get her in a close enough spot. Luckily enough, I was able to grab the front and didn’t have to use her too much, and she did the rest on her own.”
Trained by Per Engblom and owned by M T Stables Ontario Inc., Aardie B Miki N lifted her lifetime stats to 16 wins from just 37 starts, good for earnings of $596,776. She paid $2.60 to win.
A LITTLE MORE: One lucky player has started 2026 well in the black. There was only one winning ticket sold on the 15th race 10-cent Hi-5, and after 4-1 third choice Born To Dance won with long shots behind him that went off at 29-1, 32-1, 52-1 and 26-1, respectively, the payout for one thin dime was $21,944.53. … Beckwith and Jim Marohn Jr. finished tied atop the driver leaderboard with three winners each while Engblom’s three-bagger led the trainers. … All-source handle on the 15-race program totaled $2,505,542. … Racing resumes Saturday (Jan. 3) at 6:20 p.m.